Fr Felix Hardy was born in 1890, and was of a clerical family. His father, a beneficed clergyman of the Church of England was in charge of a parish in Norfolk, and he had an Uncle 'a padre' during the first World War who was awarded a V.C. for his gallantry. Fr Felix was educated at St Paul's School, London, and became a scholar of Christ Church, Oxford.
It was while at 'the House' that Norman Hardy was received into the Church and almost immediately he was introduced to Ampleforth by meeting some of the monks then resident at Parkers' Hall. There was a little coterie of intellectual men who had recently entered the Church at Oxford in the immediate pre-war years. Hardy was recognized as one of the most brilliant of this group most of whom achieved distinction in after life.
In 1913 he became a postulant at Ampleforth and was clothed with the habit and received the name Felix the same year. As all young monks of those days for the next seven years (novitiate and philosophy at Belmont, theology at Ampleforth), Fr Felix was pushed through the machine. But in the seventeen years following his ordination until he left for pastoral duty at Cardiff, it would be widely untrue to suggest that Fr Felix was at all the product of a machine ridden age. He was always and everywhere quite unconcernedly an individual. The home background and sound education combined with his natural talent had made him a scholar, and developed his tastes. But there was something more, an untiring quest after truth. All information he found interesting and with his well trained active mind was never content to let any matter rest as he found it. He must really understand it and test and see if it was real or false. He was a master at Ampleforth when very great developments were taking place. Fr Felix had his place, not as a leader, he was never an ambitious man, but as an adviser and corrective to enthusiasm. His brethren admired his learning, recognized his taste, used his ability. He could prime the clever boy for the scholarship examination, he could with unerring accuracy and taste produce a book, compose a Latin inscription, decide what should be in a concert. Himself no mean musician he was equally at home on organ or piano, at vespers, or at a punch night.
As a schoolmaster, Fr Felix was outstanding. No one who was taught by him could easily forget the experience, but it would be difficult to analyse satisfactorily those qualities in him which made this so. First and foremost he stands out in the memory as a personality. His teaching was never the mere imparting of information. The ability to communicate a scale of values, to impart an attitude to knowledge such as his own - that was his supreme achievement. His encyclopaedic knowledge was never used merely to impress but rather to stimulate and fertilize the minds of boys. He had to an outstanding degree that most rare gift of understanding and guiding - rather than attempting to crush - the exuberance of the adolescent intellect. Many are indebted to that sympathy. He was unorthodox in his methods but the impression left was indelible.
As Editor he was responsible for a change in the typography of the Journal. The present pleasing combination of Fournier and Perpetua Titling - which has received the supreme compliment of exact imitation - is entirely due to him.
Fr Felix spent the last fifteen years of his life doing parochial work. Three years as an assistant priest at St Mary of the Angels, Cardiff, and twelve years as parish priest of St Austin's, Grassendale. Fr Felix gave himself generously to these new fields of labour. Here again, while he did all that could be expected of a good and pious priest he never lost his individuality. It should in fairness to him be remembered that he was a man well advanced in middle age when he began this new task in his life and that he took over Grassendale in the midst of the Second World War, when normal parochial life was badly disorganized. Two prominent features of his life were in his pastoral administration, his great love for children, and his thorough and painstaking service of the sick. His fellow clergy admired the breadth of his learning, the greatness of his knowledge, his keen and penetrating intellect. To the end of his life his search for truth was still pressing him forward to study branches of science which hitherto he had not had opportunity to master.
Yet one would give a wrong impression of Fr Felix if one did not stress his kindness of heart and unassuming friendliness. He joined a community and generously put his knowledge and ability at the disposal of his brethren. Being without the least suspicion of arrogance, his open approach to the non-Catholic world caught interest. There was 'no shadow of the catacombs' in his make up. His education and upbringing was as good intellectually as England had to offer and he treated men as he knew them save that he had acquired by the goodness of God something more precious than they had, the truth on religious matters. His acceptance of the faith was so complete that one seldom thought of him as a convert.
On two occasions, the people of Grassendale had opportunities for expressing their esteem and devotion to their parish priest. One was when they celebrated the silver jubilee of his ordination and the other when they came to pay their last tribute of respect, when his dead body lay in their church before his funeral. There could be no mistake about the sincerity of affection they showed.
NORMAN FELIX HARDY 24 March 1952
1890 14 Feb Born Birmingham
1902-09 Educ St Paul's School
1909-13 Studied Lit Hum at Ch Church Oxford
1911 Aug Received into the Church
1913 7 Oct Habit
1914 8 Oct Simple Profession
1915 1 May Minor Orders Belmont Bishop Burton
1918 12 Jan Solemn Vows Ampleforth Abbot Smith
1918 29 Jun Subdeacon Ampleforth Bishop Lacy
1919 29 Apr Deacon Ampleforth
1920 30 May Priest Ampleforth Bishop Vaughan
1917 Easter to Aug 1918 Assistant Master at Preparatory School
1926 Sep to Jul 1929 Assistant Junior School Master
1928 Oct Editor Ampleforth Journal
1937 Sep Assistant at St Mary's Cardiff
1940 Sep Parish Priest at St Austin's Grassendale
1952 24 Mar Died